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Hey Dr. Pinhas! I just had a question regarding birth control. Is it possible to lose sexual desire and break out a lot with acne by using the Nuva Ring? Also, is it normal to have dark discharge when I didn’t even have my period yet? Please do not publish my name. S.W.
Response from Dr. Pinhas The NuvaRing is a combo synthetic estrogen/progesterone hormonal ring with very low levels of hormones (which is great). It is a transparent vaginal ring and is approximately two inches. You insert it in your vagina between day 1 and day 5 of your menstrual cycle and leave it in there for 3 weeks. You then take it out for one week and replace it with a new ring. You can have sexual intercourse with it in place. If that idea doesn’t appeal to you, you can only take it out for 3 hours. (Some guys complain that they can feel it in the woman’s vagina but most men don’t mind it. Women do not feel it). You cannot leave it out for more than 3 hours between the 3 week time otherwise it will lose effectiveness, which is not WHAT YOU WANT TO HAPPEN. If you are using your NuvaRing the right way, you’ll have a pregnancy chance of 3/1000 women in one year. If you are using it inconsistently and incorrectly, ( what I call head up butt phenomenon), you will have 80/1000 pregnancies in one year. So do not take it out for more than 3 hours during the three weeks. Also if you’ve gained a lot of weight and are approaching 198 pounds, there will not be enough estrogen and progesterone to prevent FSH and LH from surging from your pituitary gland. These hormones ( FSH and LH) are what causes ovulation. So you could be on the NuvaRing and have a higher chance of getting pregnant. For the first 3 months of hormonal contraceptive usage, you might have some minor side effects that tend to go away the longer you use the hormonal product. Some vaginal discharge and acne have been reported with the ring but these problems usually last a few months. Sexual desire may be effected as well, in the short run. These issues usually clear up. If any annoying side effects persist, then proceed to your OBGYN and have a conversation about your options. In talking to many women, they tell me they love their rings. Did you just tell me that your annoying symptoms just abated? |
Hormonal Birth Control : Ring Around the Vagina
Dr. Valerie Pinhas
I’m confused by this…it’s a vaginal ring? i thhought from the commercials that it went over the cervix or something. how does it stay in place? can it come out of the vagina without a woman noticing? can it irritate a woman? is there any risk of infection if you keep it in during intercourse? im just curious as i have never found a birth control method that works for me but i haven’t tried this yet.
Yes, this is a flexible vaginal ring that has a slow hormonal release. It fits between the public bone in the vagina and the back of the vagina. IT does go over the cervix but the circumference is bigger. It is like a fitting ring for a diaphragm. It stays in place because of the muscles in the vagina ” hold” it and it is behind the pubic bone. No it cannot come out without you noticing. To take it out, you have to insert your finger into your vagina find the ring and bear down to pull it out– it is firmly in place. Most women I’ve spoken to do not find it irritating, nor do they get infections from it. As I’ve said earlier, it a very low dose of hormones and most women love it.